I have to admit that, if I heard "q-pon" over here, I would immediately think that the speaker had come from a rough-ish background and was trying (unsuccessfully!) to sound "posh." It really isn't in use in the UK, I think.

But the meaning would be clear enough, so I don;t think it would warrant inclusion in a dictionary, using the "quinion test". So how has it got into Spareye's dictionary, one wonders?